to do less, to do more

15:45 Dec 3, 2013 

"To what extent can we translators change the meaning of a translated sentence."

Isn't that the largest question there's as far as translation goes?

The ultimate test: If you read a text and it reads like a translation then the translator has failed. No?

14:53 Dec 3, 2013 

I was trying to make a larger point, about which later.
Admittedly, the English original is not most graceful, as is my rendering of it. As to its meaning, consider someone who swims once a week for one hour. This person can swim MORE by swimming two hours once a week (i.e., swim longer) or swim four times a week for an hour (i.e., more often). This person can in addition take up aerobics (do more). In the question, we had more.
Now back to the larger point. My question here is, To what extent can we translators change the meaning of a translated sentence. For example, the beautiful sentence "Co powinienem/-innam robic czesciej?" translates back as "What shall I do more often?" The wonderful sentence "na czym powinienem sie bardziej/mniej skupic" translates back as "On what shall I concentrate more," and an equally apt sentence "na co powinienem poswiecic wiecej/mniej czasu" translates back as "To what shall I devote more time?"
As you can see, this is a far cry from "what shall I do more of?" I would appreciate your thoughts, especially on the larger question. Thanks.

13:31 Dec 3, 2013 

A, racja, *rzadziej* to lepsze rozwiazanie.

07:30 Dec 3, 2013 

"mniej często" zamieniłbym na "robić rzadziej", i nie przejmowałbym się, możliwymi, freudowskimi skojarzeniami ;)

03:37 Dec 3, 2013 

If you translate it more closely to the OF equivalent, you end up with a sentence that is awkward and actually grammatically incorrect. If anything, it should be:

Czego powinnam robic wiecej/mniej?

To such question you could very easily answer, for example: "pierogów". However, considering the context of it being a some sort of psychology/personality test/questionnaire, I believe you need to modify the question. Still, without the larger context, it's hard to say which of the options I provided would work best.

23:24 Dec 2, 2013 

Dla dyskusji:

Pytanie What should I do more OF? To znaczy: CO.
Odpowiedź I should walk and talk more.

Pytanie What should I do more OFTEN? To znaczy: JAK CZĘSTO
Odpowiedź I should walk and talk more often.